Edward wilson alsop



(No Model.)

B. W. ALSOP.

HEEL OR sou: PLATE.

N0. 537,101. Pate-ntedApr. 9. 1895.

mi n'oa ms FETERS co, Pwg'rau'mu, WASHINGTON; Q.

NITED STATES PATENT 'FFIGE.

EDWARD WILSOI T ALSOP, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

HEEL OR SOLE PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,101, dated April 9, 1895.

Applicationfiled August 27, 1894.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD WILSON AL- sOP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements in Heel or Sole Plates; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description. of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to metallic heel or sole plates, such as are adapted to be attached to a shoe heel or sole either new or worn; and it has for its object to form a plate of the kind indicated in which the wearing surface of the plate is faced with rubber for the purpose of overcoming the hard metallic sound resulting when a broad metallic surface is allowed to come in direct contact with the pavement or floor in walking, and also for the purpose of affording a security against slipping in sleety weather, the rubber especially when of an elastic nature serving like the heel of a rubber shoe to preventslipping, the rubber facing being secured to the metallic base primarily by means of spurs or tongues extending across the face of the plate and having their sides, and also preferably one end, beveled inwardly so as to form a dovetailed tongue and grooved connection between the plate and rubber facing thus more securely holding the rubber facing in place.

The invention further consists in other features of construction; all of which will be hereinafter more fully described and then sought to be specifically defined by the claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the heel portion of a shoe showing one of my plates affixed thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective of the plate before it has been faced with rubber. Fig. 3

is asectional view on the line w-z'r of Fig. 2 with the addition of the rubber facing. Fig. 4. is a section on the line y- -y of Fig. 2 after the rubber has been applied; and Figs. 5 and 6 are plan viewsof two sides of the plate looking at the rubber faced portion thereof.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates Serial No. 521,452. (No model.)

the metallic base of the plate which may be of any desired size and shape to best adapt it to the part of the shoe to which it is to be applied. This base is provided on its rear face with prongs 2 designed to secure the plate to the shoe but other means maybe employed for the purpose. On the wearing face of the plate are formed tongues or spurs 3, preferably three in number, and which extend transversely across the plate. These tongues or spurs are for the purpose primarily of securin g the rubber facing 4 to the wearing surface of the plate, andthey also serve to afford an additional thickness to the plate at its Wearing surface so as to prolong the life of the plate, this increased thickness however not adding materially to the weight of the plate. The spurs are undercut along their sides so as to form a dovetailed tongue which when the rubber facing is applied forms a dovetailed tongue and grooved connection between the plate and rubber facing as illustrated in Fig. 3. It is also preferred to undercut the rear face of the spurs or tongues as shown in Fig. 2 so that the rubber will fit into the undercut as illustrated in Fig. 4, thus more securely holding the rubber in place.

These tongues or spurs are preferably made tapering as illustrated in Fig. 2, and when formed as described will hold the rubber facing and metallic base securely together,-the undercut sides to the spurs preventing the rubber and plate being drawn apart from each other, the undercut at the rear of the spurs preventing the rubber being driven toward the inner edge of the plate and thus slipped from off the plate, and the tapering feature preventing the rubber from being forced or driven toward the rear edge of the plate and slipped from the rear of the plate.

I may in addition to the foregoing, or independently thereof, form holes or apertures 5 through the base plate so that the rubber may pass through said apertures and be pressed down upon the rear face of the plate, thus forming shanks 6 and heads 7 to the rubber facing which will tend to secure the facing and plate together and prevent slipping of the facing on the plate in any direction and withdrawal of the rubber from the plate.

The rubber facing may be either soft or hard rhbber, and will cover in area the entire wearing surface of the metallic plate so as to present a rubber surface for contact with the floor or pavement, thus avoiding the disagreeable noise usually attending the use of metallic heel or sole plates. The rubber surface may also be ridged as indicated by the lines in Figs. 5 and 6 and it will serve to guard like the sole of a rubber shoe against slipping and falling when the sidewalks are covered with sleet.

The rubber facing will be molded or otherwise applied to the metallic base, and can be applied at comparatively little expense so that the cost of manufacture over the ordinary heel and shoe plates will be very small.

I have described with particularity the preferred details of construction of each part of the heel or sole plate but it is obvious that EDWARD WILSON ALSOP.

Witnesses:

NATHAN H. ROBBINS, A. A. CAMPBELL. 

